Remember Your Memory
by TheObscureFluffs
Summary: [sequel to 'Fluffed Up'] Sonic's heart sank when he came home to an amnesiac Knuckles. With some help, the echidna's memory slowly returns, but a constant remains; he can't remember a single thing about Sonic, or their relationship. (AU, Main!Sonic X Boom!Knuckles)
1. Chapter 1

Sonic teleported back into his own world, breathing a small sigh of relief as he hid something in his quills. He'd gone to Knuckles' world early in the morning (before the guy had even woken up) and was thankful that he didn't take too long with things.

"Hey, Tails!" he called, holding his hand up to the fox. "Where's Knux? I need to—"

He paused as Tails turned to him with a look of distress on his face. " _Sonic!_ "

He rushed up to the blue blur, pointing into another room. "I-it's Knuckles... t-there was an accident in the lab, and he—"

Sonic dashed into the room without a second thought, finding the echidna crouched over in the corner, staring ahead warily.

Tails frowned and followed, hiding behind his big brother. "He can't remember anything. I even tried just plain speaking to him, but he doesn't understand me!"

Sonic didn't want to believe it, especially on _today_ of all days, so he walked a bit closer to Knuckles and smiled weakly. "C-c'mon, Knuckles. That's not true, right?" He held his arms out for a hug. "I bet you remember _me_ , don't cha?"

Knuckles crawled backwards and even further into his corner, staring up at Sonic nervously.

Sonic retracted his arms, hurt that Knuckles couldn't remember him.

Tails sighed. "J-judgin' by the stories you've told me, it looks like his memory reverted back to what it was before his friends found him on Angel Island. I think I heard him mutter the ancient echidna language, so he knows _some_ things about himself at least."

"Then I'll just have to get his memory back!" Sonic said confidently. He took another step closer to Knuckles, then knelt down.

"What are you going to do?" Tails asked.

Sonic smirked, then waved at Knuckles calmly. "[Hey there. Are you feeling alright?]" he asked, speaking in the echidna's language in hopes of getting a response from him. He'd learned it from his world's Knuckles a long while ago, around when he and the Knuckles in front of him first started dating, due to wanting to be closer to his boyfriend.

Knuckles' eyes lit up slightly, somewhat relieved that someone was finally saying something he understood.

"[W-what's going on?]" he replied softly, glancing around the room nervously. "[Where am I? And who are you?]"

Sonic placed a hand on his chest. "[I'm Sonic, and this is my friend, Tails.]" He pointed to the fox. "[I know you're confused, but you just lost a few years of your memory. I'll explain more later if you need it, but the main thing is that you're not in your own world right now.]"

Knuckles tilted his head in confusion. "['Not in my own world'? What does that mean?]"

"[It's... a little complicated,]" Sonic admitted, obviously not wanting to tell Knuckles about their relationship yet. "[Look, do you mind coming out of that corner? I swear, neither of us are gonna hurt you. We just want to help," he assured.

Knuckles hesitated, not sure if he trusted these strangers or not.

Sonic's ears drooped slightly, but he tried not to let his sadness show. "[H-here, I'll prove it.]"

He sped out of the room, then came back with a bag full of grapes. "[I know how much you like these,]" he said with a small grin. "[Your name is Nakkuru and you're from Angel Island, right?]" He could honestly list Knuckles' qualities all day, as he knew every one of them, but there was no time for it.

Knuckles' eyes went wide in surprise. "[How do you know all that?]"

Sonic chuckled. "['Cause I'm your—]" He stopped abruptly, clearing his throat. "[A-ah, I mean... well, let's just say we're pretty close.]" Again, he had to mask his pain, not wanting Knuckles to know about their relationship so soon.

"[Oh.]" Knuckles frowned sadly. "[I'm sorry I can't remember you...]"

Sonic shook his head. "[Don't worry about it.]"

Cautiously, he took a few more steps forward, being right in front of Knuckles now. With the echidna sitting down, they were pretty much eye-level. "[Do you mind if I take you around to some places though? Maybe it'll help you get your memory back,]" he said.

Knuckles hesitated. He still wasn't sure if he trusted Sonic, but it didn't seem like he had much choice.

"[O-okay.]"

Sonic couldn't hide his frown at Knuckles' hesitation. He told himself that it was just because of the amnesia, but that didn't help matters.

"[First though...]" He pulled on one of the thick stems in the bag he held, bringing out a cluster of grapes. "[Here. You're probably hungry, right?]" he asked, though knowing that Knuckles would eat it regardless of how hungry he was.

Knuckles' stomach growled. Cautiously, he took the grapes from Sonic's hands and began to eat them. He managed to crack a small smile. One thing he hadn't forgotten was his favorite food.

Sonic sat down next to him, then turned his head to Tails, gesturing off into the other room to let the fox know that he had the situation under control. Tails left, and Sonic just watched Knuckles closely with a sad smile.

 _Is that... really all you remember?_

After Knuckles finished eating, he glanced over at Sonic.

"[So, um...]" He wasn't sure what to say.

Sonic snapped back to attention, realizing that he'd been zoning out. "[O-oh, right!]"

He stood up, taking the remaining stem, then sped out of the room, returning without either the stem or the bag of grapes. "[C'mon, I'll take you into town,]" he said, gesturing for Knuckles to get up and follow him.

Knuckles slowly stood up and cautiously went over to Sonic. He hoped that he'd be able to find some answers soon.

The two headed outside together, with Sonic keeping only a slight distance between himself and Knuckles. Usually, he'd be much closer, but he didn't want to make the echidna uncomfortable.

"[Just a warning; everyone in town's going to speak Mobian,]" he told him. "[I'll translate anything you want until you remember it yourself though.]"

Knuckles nodded. He felt like he should remember this place, but he just couldn't figure out why.

Sonic walked through town with Knuckles, looking around at all the hustle and bustle going on. A lot of people were talking, and very few actually batted at an eye at the two; Sonic and Knuckles walking together was a usual sight at this point, and the several people who actually stared were probably just shocked that the two weren't holding hands or something similar.

Dear _Chaos_ , did Sonic want to hold Knuckles' though.

"[Any of this ring any bells?]" he asked, staring up at his 'boyfriend'.

Knuckles shook his head. "[Nope, not recognizing anything yet.]"

Sonic sighed, rubbing his head. "[Maybe this'll be harder than I thought,]" he said, slightly discouraged at how nothing looked familiar at all to the echidna.

"[Hey, what's that?]" Knuckles suddenly asked, pointing to one of the buildings. He didn't know why, but he had a feeling there was something in that particular building he needed to see.

Sonic glanced over. "[That's the music store.]"

He paused, then perked up. _Of course, the piano!_

"[Quick, let's go!]"

He grabbed hold of Knuckles' hand, then started heading for the building.

However, as he realized what he was doing, he stopped, pulling his hand away and rubbing it. He mentally heckled himself; Knuckles was probably uncomfortable enough without him being physical with him.

He gave the echidna a weak smile, then started to head for the building again, just sort of hoping he'd follow.

Knuckles had blushed when Sonic touched his hand, but he couldn't imagine why. He shrugged it off and followed Sonic into the music store.

Sonic headed over to the piano, gesturing to it; it'd actually been the piano that Knuckles played on when he first came into the world. The two had even done a little performance together, though without really realizing.

"[Well? Anything?]" Sonic asked hopefully.

Knuckles put a hand to his chin, deep in thought. He walked over to the piano and pressed a key.

 _[Wait...]_

He pressed a few more keys. Suddenly, something came flashing back to him. Before he realized it, he was playing a scale from memory! His face lit up, an adorable smile appearing on his face as he played.

Sonic's smile became more genuine as he watched Knuckles play.

 _Beautiful, as always,_ he thought, letting out a small sigh of relief now that Knuckles had remembered something.

Once Knuckles stopped playing, he stared at the piano in awe.

"[Wow...that's right! I love playing music!]"

Sonic clapped, grinning and leaning against the piano.

"[You haven't lost your touch!]" he exclaimed, though the two were getting a few weird glances from people who couldn't understand what they were saying.

"[Well, at least I remember that now!]" Knuckles said, grinning proudly.

 _[I just wish I remembered who_ you _are...]_

Sonic nodded firmly. "[Yeah! One memory down... a bunch to go!]" He laughed sheepishly.

"[Yeah...]" Knuckles suppressed a sad sigh. "[So... what else do I do?]"

"Hmm..." Sonic thought for a moment, trying to think of other things that might spark Knuckles' memory. "[How about I take you back to my place?]'" he asked. "[We could play some games and I could tell you more about what you've forgotten on the way there.]"

"[W-well...okay,]" Knuckles replied. He still wasn't sure what to think of Sonic, but he seemed nice enough. And besides, he was the only one that he could communicate with now. "[Lead the way.]"

Sonic nodded, leading Knuckles out of the music shop. The people were still talking a lot outside in Mobian, so Knuckles couldn't understand, but Sonic didn't feel the need to translate; it was hard to even hear himself over the crowds.

"[Alright, so...]" He paused, thinking about how to explain things to Knuckles. "[First off, back in your world, a different me and his friends found you on Angel Island. They took you back to a place called 'Bygone Island', and you picked up their language pretty well. They also called you 'Knuckles' because of your hands.]" He pointed to Knuckles' spikes.

"Kn...'Knuckles'?" Knuckles repeated, staring at his hands. It sounded similar to his name, 'Nakkuru', so it kinda made sense.

"[Yeah. Us Sonics call you 'Knux' a lot though,]" Sonic told him.

"Kn...'Knux'..." It sounded so familiar. "[So, wait... there's more than one Sonic?]"

Sonic frowned slightly, not wanting to get into that.

"[Well, see...]" He debated for a moment on whether or not he should tell Knuckles about his old crush on the other Sonic. "[Some... stuff happened, and you basically got sent to this world. You, uh... took a liking to it, so my Tails - yeah, there's a version of Tails in your universe too - gave you that—]" He pointed to the device on Knuckles' wrist. "[—so you can travel between both worlds. I've got one too,]" he explained, showing Knuckles the machine on his wrist.

"Hmmm..." Knuckles gazed thoughtfully at the device on his wrist. Something was stirring at the back of his mind, but he couldn't quite put a finger on it.

"[Anyway, here we are,]" Sonic said, though with a little less enthusiasm than he meant to show. He unlocked the door to his house, then walked inside.

Knuckles followed him inside. "[Wow... your place is really nice!]"

He didn't know why, but saying that gave him a weird 'deja vu' feeling.

"[Well, it's got your own little touches, that's why!]" Sonic exclaimed. He picked up a potted plant, seemingly at random even though it wasn't, then showed it to the echidna. "[These are from your world,]" he told him. He paused, a small smile coming to his face as he lightly stroked the petals, remembering when Knuckles and him had gone off to the other universe to pick the flowers together.

"[Oooh, pretty!]" Knuckles replied, smiling.

Sonic nodded, then set the plant down and walked over to a small gaming console in front of the TV, promptly sitting down. He actually hadn't played games often until Knuckles came along; they had become so much more fun with him there.

"[Let's see if you still remember how to play!]" Sonic said, tossing a controller to Knuckles and putting a fighting game at random into the system.

Knuckles stared at the controller. He had no idea what to do with it, but he figured he'd give it a shot.

Sonic waited for Knuckles to sit down next to him, then observed how he was holding the controller. "[Oh, ah... no, not like...]"

He hesitated, not wanting to physically touch Knuckles or make him uncomfortable, but eventually reached over, placing his hands over Knuckles' and guiding said hands into the right position.

"[O-oh, sorry.]" Knuckles blushed at Sonic's hands touching his again. He wondered why that kept happening, but he decided to focus on trying to remember how to use the controller he was holding.

Sonic then started up the game, picking his character and promptly helping Knuckles pick his. Afterwards, the battle began, though Sonic was careful to go easy on Knuckles so the echidna wasn't likely to give up before he got around to remembering the controls.

Knuckles glanced over at Sonic, trying to copy what he was doing. After a little while, he felt like he was getting the hang of the controls again.

Sonic increased his own difficulty as he noticed Knuckles getting better, knowing that he was bound to lose if the echidna's full memory for the controls returned. Knuckles had more practice, especially back in his own world, where he'd play against Sonic's blue-armed counterpart.

Knuckles smiled confidently as he gradually remembered the controls. Maybe he could actually win this!

As Knuckles' memory improved, Sonic noticed his advantage slipping. The health bars began to even out, and his suddenly dropped below Knuckles'. Before he knew it, he'd lost.

"[Good game!]" he exclaimed. He leaned up towards Knuckles for a moment, but realized what he was doing quickly and sat back down. When the two had first started playing, they made a rule out of it: loser kisses the winner. Sonic heckled himself for getting so excited over the thought that he'd neglected Knuckles' amnesia.

"[That was fun!]" Knuckles said. "[I guess that's another memory I have back now.]"

Sonic nodded. "[Yeah... one less memory to remember!]" he exclaimed. "[So, are you hungry?]"

Knuckles nodded. "[Yeah. Do you have any more grapes?]"

His words gave Sonic an idea. "[Oh! Yeah, hold on a sec!]"

He changed the channel on the TV so Knuckles would have something to keep him entertained, then passed the remote to him (despite knowing that he probably didn't remember how to use it) before promptly rushing off to the kitchen.

Knuckles couldn't understand what anyone on the TV was saying of course, but he was still enjoying watching the cartoons that were currently on.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Mister Sonic! Knuckles! Are you home?" a voice rang out from the other side of the door. If Knuckles had enough of his memory back, he'd recognize the voice as Cream's.

"[Uh, Sonic, I think someone's at the door!]" Knuckles called.

"[Oh, that's Cream!]" Sonic told him from his place in the kitchen. "[You can get that. I bet you'll remember her in no time!]"

"[W-well, okay...]" As Knuckles went to get the door, he just hoped Cream could forgive him for not remembering who she was.

The second he opened the door, he was nearly knocked down to the floor as the young rabbit bounced up and hugged him. "Sibby hugs!" she exclaimed, the phrase being used often whenever the two hung out, as Cream considered Knuckles the 'big brother she never had' while Knuckles thought of Cream as a little sister.

Knuckles let out a startled yelp, but calmed down when he realized it was just a hug.

[Aww... she's so cute!] he thought, giggling softly.

Once she realized she wasn't being hugged back, Cream frowned, pulling away slightly and staring at Knuckles. "Is something wrong?" she asked sadly.

Knuckles was saddened by her change in tone. He wished he could explain what was going on, but he couldn't even understand her language anymore, so what could he do?

Sonic walked into the living room, frowning a bit. "Sorry, Cream. Knux lost his memory this morning and forgot how to speak Mobian." It pained him to say it.

Cream stared up at Knuckles sadly. "You don't remember me at all?" she asked.

Sonic looked over, translating for her. "[She's asking if you remember her at all.]"

Knuckles shook his head sadly. "[I'm sorry.]"

Sonic relayed the message to Cream, who tried not to show how sad she was.

"Oh..."

She shifted awkwardly, hands behind her back as she gazed down at the floor. "I-I'm sorry for hugging you then."

"[She's sorry for hugging you; she figured she made you uncomfortable.]"

"[No no, it's okay!]" Knuckles replied. "[You didn't know.]"

Cream smiled weakly as Sonic translated. She didn't enjoy the language barrier at all, but what was she to do?

"So... does he remember you, Mister Sonic?" she asked.

Sonic's forced smile faltered. "Ah... no, he didn't even know my name."

Cream's eyes widened, shocked at the news. "B-but, you're dati—"

Sonic sped over and quickly placed a hand over the rabbit's mouth. Upon remembering that Knuckles couldn't understand her however, he retracted it.

She tried again. "You're dating. Boyfriend and boyfriend, right?" she asked.

Sonic sighed. "I-I know. I... haven't told him yet," he admitted.

 _'Boyfriend'...?_

The word was so familiar to Knuckles, and it made him feel a lot of emotions... but he just couldn't remember what it meant.

"T-told... told me what?"

 _Wait, did I just speak their language? ...Whoa, I'm thinking in it too! Weird..._

Sonic's ears perked on alert. "Wait, you... understood that?" he asked.

"I... think so," Knuckles replied. He was just as surprised.

"You remembered!" Cream exclaimed. "Do you remember me yet then?" she asked, pointing to herself. "Cream? I've got a chao friend named Cheese and you come to visit me and Mama sometimes!"

Sonic remained quiet, glad that Cream changed the subject and hoping that Knuckles wouldn't repeat his earlier question.

Knuckles put a hand to his chin. "Hmmm... you _do_ seem kinda familiar..." He sighed. "Man, why can't my memory come back faster?"

Cream grabbed Knuckles' hand excitedly, bouncing up and down. "So you at least remember me a little!" she cheered.

Sonic was surprised at that. He could vaguely remember Cream, but not him? He knew that Cream and him were close, but...

Knuckles smiled softly. "Heh, I guess I do!"

Sonic left for the kitchen without a word.

"Oh, oh!" Cream exclaimed. "Now that we can talk, maybe there's something you can ask me! Is there something you wanna know that Mister Sonic hasn't told you yet?" she asked.

"A lot of things," Knuckles admitted. "The only things I really remember are that I play the piano and video games, and that grapes are my favorite."

"You're also really kind and super strong!" Cream exclaimed. "And you played with me the first time we met. 'Member?" she asked.

"Hmmm..." Knuckles thought hard. "I'm trying to remember... ugh, why is this so hard?" He sighed in distress. "I just want my memory back."

"It's okay!" Cream exclaimed. "You just hafta give it time!" she assured. "It'll come back soon enough!"

"I hope you're right," Knuckles replied.

"Hm..." Cream tried to think, then snapped her fingers as she got an idea. " _I know!_ Hold on for juuuust a second, okay?"

She left the house, then flapped her ears and flew off.

Knuckles sat down on the couch, waiting. He wondered what Cream was up to.

When Cream returned, she was holding a large binder, which she brought to Knuckles after going inside.

"Mama's been working on this photo album for _years_ ," she said, sitting next to Knuckles and opening it up. She skimmed through the pages, then smiled and handed it over to him. "Here's where you start showing up in the pictures!"

Knuckles gazed at the photos thoughtfully. Maybe some of his missing memories were in there!

Cream pointed to each picture one at a time, able to recall everything leading up to the photo being taken. Some even contained the Knuckles in this universe, which Cream was happy to explain to him.

Knuckles watched as Cream went into detailed descriptions for each one of their friends, but she never once mentioned why Sonic and himself always seemed to be right next to each other in nearly every photo, either holding hands, hugging, or making some sort of physical contact.

"Hey, I think I'm remembering some of these things!" Knuckles said excitedly.

 _But why can't I remember who Sonic is?_

"That's great!" Cream cheered. "I'm glad I can along to help!"

She paused, then sheepishly put the book down and frowned, reaching her arms up to Knuckles. "Y-you remember sibby hugs now, don't you?"

Knuckles smiled. "Of course I do!"

Cream's face lit up at that, and Knuckles was quickly bombarded with one of her hugs. Knuckles giggled, hugging her back.

At that moment, Sonic walked in, carrying a tray of grape desserts. He'd done this before for Knuckles multiple times, so he hoped this would spark something.

"Hey, Knux!" he called, setting the tray down on the table. "For you!"

Cream smiled. "Ohh, you've been practicing, Mister Sonic!"

"Oooh, thanks!" Knuckles began to eat one of the desserts, making an "mmm" sound as he did. "This is good!"

As he ate, he thought to himself, _Me and Sonic were always hugging and stuff in those pictures. We must've been really close. Man, now I_ really _wish I remembered him..._

Sonic waited a few minutes, then grinned sheepishly, pointing into another room with both hands. "So, uh, should I leave you two to do your thing?"

Cream frowned. _Mister Sonic..._

"Aw, you don't have to go," Knuckles replied. "You can stay! Right, Cream?"

Cream nodded. "Of course!"

Sonic hesitated, then walked over and sat down. It felt odd to feel like a third wheel with the two despite being Knuckles' boyfriend.

Knuckles tried to hide the twinge of sadness he felt. He didn't know how close he and Sonic had been, but he knew that the hedgehog was clearly hurt by him not remembering.

After Knuckles had finished his desserts, Cream looked up at the clock and gasped. "Oh, that's right!"

She hurried over to the door. "I need to go! Mama's going to take Cheese and I out to a flower garden today. We're going to pick a lot of pretty flowers!"

That gave Sonic an idea, and he turned to Knuckles with a tilted head. "Hey, why don't we to one ourselves?" he suggested; the two usually picked flower gardens as a place to relax and have a nice date, so maybe Knuckles would remember him then?

"I don't see why not!" Knuckles replied. He wanted to try as many ways as he could to get his memories back.

"Alright!"

Sonic seemed excited, but his grin slowly faded and he turned to the door, which now lacked Cream since the rabbit had flown off. "Uh... I usually carry ya whenever we need to go to a place far away. That okay?" he asked.

Knuckles blushed lightly, though he wasn't sure why. "S-sure, go ahead."

Sonic, though hesitant, picked Knuckles up and rushed out the door. Determined to make him remember, he took Knuckles to the nicest flower garden he could think of that wasn't too far away, setting the echidna down and gesturing to the flowers.

"How's _that_ for nice?" he asked with a smile.

"Oh, wow..." Knuckles gazed at the garden in awe. "It's beautiful!"

Sonic picked up a flower gently, then offered it to him. "Bring back any... memories?" he asked with a hopeful smile.

Knuckles blushed a little as he took the flower, but like before, he couldn't figure out why.

"Hmmm..." He gazed thoughtfully at the flower, his face lighting up a little. "Well, I remember that I love nature!" He sniffed the flower, a small smile on his face.

Sonic's expression deflated a bit. He was certainly happy that Knuckles remembered something, but his love of nature was _not_ what Sonic had in mind.

 _Should I just tell him? ...Nah, I wouldn't wanna make him feel awkward._

He hid his sigh, then smiled up at the echidna. "Wanna stay here until we get tired?" he offered, seeing that Knuckles was enjoying himself.

Knuckles nodded. "Yeah, I'd love to!"

 _He's all sad again. Stupid memory, why can't you just come back?_

He suppressed a sigh and decided to just try to enjoy the garden.

The two spent the next hour or so enjoying the flower garden. They had very little to talk about, but they still enjoyed the fresh scent of flowers.

Sonic then took Knuckles back to his house, leading him into the bedroom. "This is your bed," he told him, pointing to said bed.

"Really?" Knuckles frowned. "But then... where do _you_ sleep?"

"Oh, I, uh..." Sonic jabbed a thumb back into the living room. "just sleep on the couch." It wasn't a _complete_ lie, as Sonic had slept on the couch a few times before, but he still felt bad for not telling the whole truth.

"Ya sure?" Knuckles replied. He felt like he was having some sort of deja vu moment, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

"Y-yeah!" Sonic grinned weakly. "We agreed on it and stuff. You don't remember?" Okay, _that_ was a complete lie, but he knew Knuckles well enough to know that he wouldn't accept anything else. "The couch was too small for you to really lay on, so you sleep on the bed."

"Oh. O-okay..." Knuckles yawned suddenly, his eyes drooping.

Sonic waved. "G'night."

He then left and laid down on the couch. He missed Knuckles' warmth next to him, but knew it wasn't an option right now. He sighed, then drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Early morning came around, but Sonic was too tired to care. He flopped over to his other side as he slept on the couch, groaning at the light shining through the window.

Knuckles, meanwhile, was already awake. He was deep in thought. Several more of his memories had come back to him in his dreams, but for some reason, he still couldn't remember anything about Sonic. He sighed in frustration and decided to see if Sonic was awake.

Sonic, hearing Knuckles footsteps, turned his head towards the echidna, yawning a bit. Unfortunately, he was too groggy to think before he spoke.

"Mornin', Puppy. How ya feeling?"

"Good. How abo—" Knuckles became confused. "...'Puppy'?"

Sonic's eyes widened as he sat up with a start, realizing that he'd accidentally used his pet name for Knuckles; he'd started calling him it after he saw how adorably the echidna was fawning over a few puppies in a pet shop once.

'U-uh, no, wait, I-I mean—!"

"Sonic..." Knuckles frowned. "I know there's something you're not telling me."

Sonic grimaced, becoming silent for a moment, then sighed and rubbed his head.

"You _really_ wanna know?"

Knuckles nodded. "I still can't remember anything, and it's bugging me. I can tell it's bugging you too."

Sonic shifted awkwardly on the couch, still not wanting to tell him, but gave in anyway.

"I'm your boyfriend," he stated, his eyes going up to meet Knuckles' gaze.

Knuckles' eyes went wide. "So that's why... oh..."

He covered his face with his hands in shame. "I-I'm so sorry! Why can't I remember anything? S-stupid memory!" He was trying his best to hold back tears, but his vision was becoming blurred.

Sonic saddened, getting off the couch and going over to Knuckles. "This is just one of the reasons why I didn't wanna tell you..."

He moved Knuckles' hands away, wiping away any of the echidna's oncoming tears. "Look, it's not your fault, okay?" He sighed. "I just didn't want to make you feel awkward around me, so I tried not to say anything."

"You could've just told me," Knuckles replied. He hesitated a moment, then shyly wrapped his arms around Sonic. "I'm sorry that I can't remember anything," he said again. He smiled sadly. "I really wish I did, 'cause I bet those were some great memories."

Sonic stiffened at the hug, then suddenly pulled away, feeling almost uncomfortable in the embrace. "I'm sorry. A-and it's fine, don't worry," he assured nervously. "Maybe...maybe I could take you out somewhere for breakfast, like the cafe in town? We don't have to call it a date, but it might help bring your memory back."

"That sounds good," Knuckles replied.

He sighed internally. _I hope this will help me remember something..._

Sonic walked out of the house with Knuckles, then headed for town. He kept a bit of distance between them and was tempted to hold Knuckles' hand, but pulled away at the last second in his attempt to. It just... didn't feel right. He'd never had a problem making physical contact with anyone before, but knowing of his and Knuckles' relationship and knowing the vast difference in feelings they probably had for each other right now, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Knuckles wanted to hug Sonic again, but he restrained himself. He hated to see him so broken, but he just didn't know what to do.

The two made it into town and headed inside the cafe that Sonic had mentioned. The place was warm and inviting, but Sonic's mind was elsewhere. "Where do you wanna sit?" he asked. "I'll buy us breakfast."

"Doesn't matter," Knuckles replied.

He looked all around the place, trying his hardest to remember something, _anything_... but nothing came to him.

Sonic went over to the lady at the counter to get breakfast for the two, then came back with a tray of food. "We usually sit over there," Sonic said, his gaze drawn to a table by the window. He had hoped that offering Knuckles a table of his choice would make him pick that one, regardless of if he fully remembered or not, but that wasn't the case.

"Ohh, okay."

Knuckles sat down. He gazed outside the window.

 _This is nice,_ he thought. _I bet we used to make great memories here..._

Sonic sat down as well, setting the tray down on the table. He followed Knuckles' gaze, as if knowing what he was thinking.

"We came here on dates a lot," he said, taking his fork and stabbing into a pineapple cube inside his cup of fruit. "It wasn't our first, but I'm still really attached to this place for all the time we've spent here, y'know...?"

He smiled, recalling the memories, but there was a forlorn expression in his eyes that wasn't at all pleasant to look at. He hated not being the optimistic blue hero he was known for being, but he couldn't help it.

Knuckles seemed very distressed himself. "Why can't I remember any of this?" he sighed. "I'm trying so hard, but... _nothing._ "

Sonic frowned, then looked down at the teleporter on his wrist, which also functioned as a communicator. There was a message from Tails.

{Any luck yet?}

Sonic almost didn't want to answer, but pulled out the communicator's small keyboard and did so anyway.

{Yeah, but he hasn't remembered me yet. He seems to have pretty much everything else down though.}

Tails responded after a moment.

{Oh... I see.}

Sonic went to type something else, but another message came up.

{Amnesia works in weird ways, Sonic. He could just be having a serious block.}

Sonic didn't have a response for that one. After a minute though, yet another message popped up.

{Though... it might be best not to set your hopes too high. I don't want to be the one to tell you this, but it's possible that his memory of you and what you had may be damaged somehow. It might never return.}

That was the absolute _last_ thing Sonic needed to hear, but he still appreciated the honesty; he was starting to suspect the fact himself.

{Thanks, buddy. I'll keep you posted.}

He slid the keyboard back into his communicator, then stared over at Knuckles. There had to be _something_ he hadn't tried yet, right?

"Uh... anything about us you might wanna know?" he asked.

"I don't even know where to start," Knuckles replied. "I'm willing to try just about anything to remember."

"Well..." Sonic took his plate of waffles from the tray and started eating. "When we're not at home or watching a movie together or something, we usually go out to that music store and play a guitar and piano harmony for everyone, or I'll take you to a flower garden or some other amazing place in the world that has a good view. I can get just about anywhere in no time at all, even when I'm carryin' you."

"That all sounds like fun!" Knuckles replied. He sighed sadly. "Do...do you think we'll ever get to do that stuff again?"

Sonic paused to think over the question, then shrugged. "I... don't know. I hope so..."

He went back to eating his food.

"Me too."

Knuckles then remained silent as he ate his breakfast.

Once the two finished eating, they headed back out. Sonic tried to swerve around town a few times, crossing any places that he and Knuckles regularly visited, but he couldn't see any spark or sudden interest in the echidna's eyes.

They walked out of town together, and Sonic looked up at Knuckles with a frown. "So... nothing?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.

Knuckles shook his head sadly. "Nope," he sighed.

Sonic went silent at that, walking beside Knuckles a bit longer, then suddenly stepped in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. "I..." He paused to ready himself. "I think it's about time y'get back to your own world."

"O-oh." Knuckles wasn't sure how to respond. He knew Sonic was probably right, but even if he didn't recall their relationship, he still hated the idea of leaving the hedgehog alone.

Sonic noticed Knuckles' hesitance, then grabbed his wrist in a swift motion, tapping relentlessly on the blue teleporter.

"...Bye, big guy."

He pressed the last button, retracting his hand as Knuckles vanished from his sight. His once-flat expression faltered, but he simply sighed and stared down at his own teleporter. Were all those memories he made with Knuckles... worthless now?

His felt a stabbing sensation in his heart, but ignored it, his left hand reaching up and unstrapping the red device from his wrist; it'd been a long time since his wrist had been bare. His hand gripped the teleporter tightly, and after gazing longingly at the spot where Knuckles had been standing, he turned away, continuing the walk home.

"S-Sonic?"

Knuckles found himself in a completely different place.

 _Wait, this is my world. D-does Sonic... not want me around anymore?_

His eyes began to fill with tears. _Of course he doesn't, I can't even remember that I was his boyfriend. Everything's ruined now because of me..._

Knuckles didn't know what else to do but curl up on the ground and cry.

A few minutes later, two figures came through the door; his friends in his world, Sonic and Amy.

"Oh my gosh, Knuckles!" Amy said with surprise, rushing over and kneeling down to him. "We heard you from outside. Are you okay? What happened?" she asked.

Knuckles tried to glance up at her, but he could barely see through his tears.

"I-I lost my m-memory... a-and I g-got a lot of it b-back, e-except..." He sniffled. "...I-I forgot everything a-about my own b-boyfriend. E-everything's ruined now..."

He couldn't say anything else as he continued to sob.

Sonic's expression softened; he'd never seen Knuckles so upset before. "H-hey, it's no big deal, Knux. You probably just gotta give it more time."

Amy nodded in agreement, trying to reassure him. "Yeah! Your memory's probably just a little frazzled or something and it's taking a while to remember Sonic b-because... there's so much to remember?"

"I...I dunno..." Knuckles sniffled, then sighed. "I-I've been trying so hard to remember, but n-nothing has been working..."

Amy frowned. "Your memory will come back. You and Sonic love each other, after all," she said. "...Even if you don't remember that you love him."

Knuckles shook his head. "I'm not sure it'll ever come back. B-besides, I don't think he wants me around anymore... and why would he? I-I can't even remember that I loved him..."

Amy grimaced. _Of all days..._

She shook her head, placing a hand on Knuckles' shoulder. "That's not true. Sonic loves you with all his heart. He's just... scared. He doesn't want you to feel uncomfortable around him because he's got all of your memories together while you don't." She gripped his other shoulder as well. " _Please,_ Knuckles... don't think like that. He needs you..."

Knuckles sat up slowly, wiping at his tears. "B-but what should I do? What _can_ I do?"

"I don't know..." Amy admitted.

Sonic frowned, then stepped forward, an angry expression on his face. "What do you mean 'what should you do'!? You get yourself back in his world until your memory comes back!"

Amy was surprised. "S-Sonic..."

"I had to watch you two hug and kiss and get all mushy with each for _way_ too long, and there's _no_ way I'm lettin' you throw all that stuff away just 'cause you don't remember it!"

"B-but what am I supposed to do?" Knuckles asked again.

"You'll figure it out!" Sonic replied confidently. He pulled Amy to her feet, then wrapped an arm around her and brought her to his side. "We're leavin', and you _better_ not be here when we get back." He huffed. "Next time I see you in this world, I want Sonic to be right next to you with you holdin' his hand like the world's about to end, understand?" he asked firmly.

He left with Amy without another word, though the pink hedgehog gave Knuckles a reassuring glance on their way out.

Knuckles was silent for a while, deep in thought. After a while, he realized he didn't really have any other choice. He pressed the button on his teleportation device, hoping that things would work out somehow.

In an instant, he was back in Sonic's world; at Tails' lab, like he always ended up when teleporting.

Tails quickly took notice of his presence. "Knuckles?" he asked. "But... weren't you with Sonic? What are you...?"

"I'll explain later," Knuckles replied. "Do you know where Sonic is? I need to talk to him."

Tails perked, pleasantly surprised that Knuckles was speaking Mobian again, but also confused at the situation and the seriousness in his tone. "Uhh... well, if he's not at home, he might be down at the lake? He goes there to think sometimes when you're not around."

"Thanks, Tails," Knuckles replied. "Which way is the lake?" he asked, having a hunch that Sonic would be there.

Tails gave him simple directions, using hand gestures to make them even easier to understand. "Good luck to you. I tried contacting him, but he won't answer, so I don't know what's going on."

Knuckles thanked him again and headed towards the lake.

 _Yeah, 'good luck'. I'm gonna need it._

As Tails had told him, Knuckles found Sonic sitting down at the edge of the lake, his knees hugged to his chest. He seemed to be deep in thought, the red teleporter that was once on his wrist now laying a few feet away.

Knuckles went up to him. He wasn't really sure what to say.

"H-hey."

Sonic stiffened at the sound of Knuckles' voice. He turned to him, his ears flattening.

"...Hey..."

He paused, then turned his gaze back to the lake. "You're back?"

Knuckles nodded. "I...I still don't remember anything, but... I'm not ready to give up. I'll do whatever it takes to remember the times we had together!"

His face still showed sadness, but there was also a new spark of determination in his eyes.

Sonic was a bit surprised at Knuckles' sudden confidence, but it didn't show on his face. He sighed, giving a weak smile.

"Tails actually gave me a warning back when we were in the cafe; that your memory might be locked or somethin' and you might never remember."

A hesitant hand of his reached back, then pulled something out of his quills: a small fuzzy box with a gold rim. "Guess fate had different plans than I did," he said, lightly feeling the fabric of the little box. "I was... too slow this time around."

"What's that?" Knuckles asked, gazing curiously at the box.

"Ah... i-it's nothin'," Sonic lied. He clicked the box open, eyeing the large ring inside. It glistened and sparkled, being made out of gemstones.

Knuckles' heart skipped a beat when he saw the ring. "Wh-what was that for?"

Sonic didn't know what possessed him to answer the question. It wouldn't've mattered if he was truthful or not, right?

"I... went to your world yesterday and collected a bunch of gems to make this... so I could ask you to marry me."

"I-I..." Suddenly, images began to flash in Knuckles' mind: images of him and Sonic. Hugs, kisses, cuddles, fun times, sad times; everything had came back.

Knuckles stood there for a moment, wide-eyed as he took it all in. Then, slowly, a smile formed on his face, his eyes filling with tears. He rushed forward, throwing his arms around Sonic.

"OHMYGOSHYESIWILLMARRYYOU!" he exclaimed.

Sonic gasped at the embrace, dropping the box to the ground in surprise. He felt Knuckles' warmth again, causing his body to stiffen in shock; he'd missed the feeling so much.

"W-wait! Hold up!"

His gloved hands gripped Knuckles' shoulders, then pushed him away slightly so Sonic could look into his eyes.

"...P-Puppy?" he asked hopefully, wanting to confirm that the echidna had indeed gotten his memory back.

"Yes?" Knuckles giggled.

Sonic stared at Knuckles a bit longer, taking a moment to register what he'd said despite it being the answer he wanted to hear. Knuckles' memory was back. He remembered everything; remembered _him_.

Suddenly, something happened that Knuckles had never seen before. Sonic's eyes slowly began to shimmer. Steadily, small tears started to form. His shoulders grew stiff, his throat became dry, and he quickly threw his arms around Knuckles before burying his face into the echidna's soft red chest, crying quietly.

"K-Knuckles..."

Knuckles hugged Sonic tighter, never wanting to let go.

"S-Sonic..." He started tearing up even more. "I...I love you."

Sonic hicced. "I-I love you too..."

He was silent for a moment, then got up slightly despite the tight hug, placing his hands on Knuckles' cheeks. Even with the tears streaming down his cheeks, there was a big smile on his face. "D-don't you _e-ever_ do that a-again, Knux! Do y-you know how much of a w-wreck I've been?" His voice was cracking as he spoke. "I-I had this whole thing p-planned out where I was g-gonna look cool and I was gonna propose, a-and..." He made a gagging noise, practically choking on his own emotions. "n-now I'm just here p-probably looking like a total idiot, b-but..."

He wrapped his arms around Knuckles, laughing like an innocent child. "I love you so much."

He pulled himself close, kissing Knuckles with the passion of every kiss he'd wanted to give him when the echidna's memory had been gone.

Knuckles kissed back, joyful tears streaming down his face. Even though his memory hadn't been gone for that long, he wanted to make up for all the time they'd lost.

The embrace and kissing went on for a blissfully long time, the two lost in their own little world together.

Finally, Sonic had calmed down, wiping the tears from his eyes and trying to banish the huge blush on his face.

Knuckles was blushing too, but also wore a big, goofy grin on his face. He bent down and picked up the ring box that Sonic had dropped.

"It's beautiful," he mused.

Sonic chuckled weakly, reaching a hand back and running his fingers through his quills. "Carved the edges myself. Amy had to comb over my quills though 'cause they got all ruffled up in the end. I still look okay, right?"

Knuckles giggled. "Of course you do!"

Sonic grinned sheepishly, his blush reddening, then looked down at the ring. He removed it from the box, then offered it to Knuckles with a small smile.

Knuckles carefully slipped it onto his ring finger, blushing and smiling.

"It's perfect."

Sonic nodded in agreement, then held Knuckles' hand. "Let's go back home, alright?" he asked softly.

Knuckles grinned. "Yes. _Home._ "

Sonic stood up, still a bit shaky from all the emotions in his body, then gripped Knuckles' hand tightly and started walking back home with him.

As they headed to their house, Knuckles suddenly remembered something else.

"Hey, um... I think I'm ready to move in. Y-you know... officially."

Instantly, Sonic froze in place, his head jerking up to look at him. "Y-y'mean it?" he asked, looking like a little kid at Christmastime.

Knuckles nodded, grinning. "W-we can still visit my world on weekends though, right?"

"Yeah, sure, of course!" Sonic replied, jumping up and hugging Knuckles excitedly.

However, his smile quickly dissipated. "Wait, I better tell Tails."

He zipped away, but came back a split second later. "Wait, no, I need to go to store and make sure you'll have a bunch of stuff so it won't just feel like my house."

He sped off but, again, came right back. "No, I need to go home and makes sure everything's ready for you."

He repeated the process, rushing off but returning a moment later. "Wait—"

Knuckles laughed. "It's fine, we have lots of time for that other stuff!"

He smiled. "I say we go tell Tails the good news, then go hang out at home."

"Oh! We've gotta tell Cream too!" Sonic said. "Hehe, she'd wanna know about her 'big brother' getting married, right?" He winked.

"Yep!" Knuckles chuckled. "She's gonna be so excited!"

The two went off, first stopping at Tails' house, then Cream's, both being ecstatic about the news while also happy that Knuckles had regained his memory of Sonic. Vanilla was particularly overjoyed, having not been to a wedding in a long while; she even threw a mini-celebration for the two.

Afterwards, they headed back home, Sonic taking a deep breath of air as they went inside.

"Feels ten times better knowin' it's your house too now," he said with a firm nod.

Knuckles smiled and put an arm around him. "I agree."

Sonic leaned against Knuckles at the contact. " _Our house..._ " He let the words sink in; he'd said it many times before, but now it felt like it had so much more weight to it now that things were 'official'.

Knuckles hugged Sonic, kissing him on the head. "I can't wait to be able to call you my husband!"

Sonic grinned. "And I can't wait to call you mine!"

He gave Knuckles a quick peck on the cheek. "But you'll always be my Puppy no matter what, right? Heh."

Knuckles blushed. "Yep," he giggled.

Sonic climbed onto Knuckles, snuggling into his fur. "Now let's to get to bed, but don't expect me to let go of you. I had to sleep without you last night and I'm not letting that happen again!"

Knuckles giggled, wrapping his arms around Sonic. "Don't worry, I'll be stuck to you like glue all night!"

"Good!" Sonic exclaimed, clinging to Knuckles and just expecting to be carried off to bed. He throat made a soft rumbling noise, almost like a purr, as he buried his face into Knuckles' shoulder. His tail even started wagging happily; it looked like he'd still kept a few qualities from his time as a werehog.

Knuckles carried him into the bedroom, still holding him as he laid down. He let go with one hand to pull the covers over them, then put that arm back around Sonic and kissed him between the ears.

"G'night," he whispered sleepily.

Sonic's smile became even wider (if that was even possible), and he leaned up, kissing Knuckles softly.

"Mmm... g'night..."

The two drifted off, undeniably content in each other's embrace.


End file.
